Author: Shirley Thornton

A vacant home on the corner of Blue Jay and Oriole with grass waist high, cars speeding down Oriole, meth addicts loitering in the park that borders NAS property, and a tent city along the Oso that appeared to be a haven for the homeless and drug users prompted Diane Bonneau and other Turtle Cove residents to take action in their neighborhood in June of 2015. This subdivision is the home to many long-time residents who love their once serene neighborhood that was built around Turtle Cove pond where many water birds, including the Black-bellied Whistling Duck, glide in at sunset and settle in among their human neighbors. In the last few years, Bonneau and her neighbors have grown tired of the illegal activity taking place in their neighborhood and are worried about the effects on the children in the area.

“I love my amazing view on the Oso and my incredible neighbors who have become my extended family. I don’t believe I will ever live anywhere else,” said Bonneau. “I am saddened by what I see in and around the Bluff and the drug that has robbed so many lives and all the collateral damage that goes along with a meth addiction. It’s a community problem and requires a community response. I am frustrated with the mentality that ‘It’s the Bluff. There will always be meth in the Bluff.'”

Like many neighborhoods across America, Turtle Cove is suffering from the fallout from the methamphetamine problem that is growing daily. The difference is that the neighbors of Turtle Cove decided to take control of the situation. After promises made by City officials at a town hall meeting failed to come to fruition, Bonneau and several of her neighbors made multiple calls to code enforcement, law enforcement, Parks and Recreation, and District 4 Council member Colleen McIntyre but got no results. The residents decided to clean up the tent camp on the Oso themselves. This prompted McIntyre and the other contacted entities to follow through with the promises to clean and patrol the area. With everyone working together, the homeless tent community was cleared out and hauled off; the park was mowed and lighted; and all seemed well in the little community.

Six months later, the neighborhood was faced with a new problem. On December 29, 2015, a man later identified as a registered sex offender and known methamphetamine user who had been evicted from his parents’ home, allegedly entered a house unlawfully on the corner of Raven and Oriole, took a shower, exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl who resided there, and left, according to Diane Bonneau and other neighbors. The owner of the house, who is the father of the victim, called the police. After the responding officer dusted for fingerprints, collected articles for evidence, and took statements, he left, and the owner sent his wife and daughter away for the night.

The next morning, between 4 and 5 a.m., the intruder returned, allegedly opened the window to the room of the 12-year-old girl, then fell asleep on the back porch. Upon discovering the man, the owner of the house called the police and reported the incident. The officer who responded recognized the intruder and stated that the man was known to do this. When the officer addressed the intruder, the man jumped the fence. The police apprehended him and removed him from the neighborhood.

Later that morning, the owner of the house was going to breakfast at a nearby restaurant when he spotted a suspicious-looking man walking down the street, so he followed him in his car. It was the intruder from earlier, and he was attempting to enter the man’s yard again. When he saw the owner, he ran off. The next day, the intruder was seen at approximately 7:00 a.m. by a neighbor. He was again attempting to gain entrance into the man’s back yard. The neighbor chased him, but the man escaped through a hole in the fence surrounding a nearby apartment complex. The Turtle Cove neighbors did not give up. After many calls and emails to CCPD, Mayor Martinez’s office, and anyone who might be able to offer assistance, they were able to provide enough information to have the man arrested.

Within two weeks, Bonneau sent an email to Chief Markle’s office when she heard that he would be in attendance at the Town Hall meeting held on Tuesday, January 12, 2016. She let him know that increased patrols had “calmed things down.” She also had several questions she wanted him to answer at the meeting:

What can we realistically expect this time around knowing that there are issues throughout the city, and resources can’t be continually concentrated in one area?

Is there a long-term plan to reduce the drug activity and crime that inherently goes along with drug issues for our area?

As a neighborhood, how can we help?

Since most neighbors are not interested in participating in a Neighborhood Watch program that requires meetings and a block captain, what are the other options?

Two days before the meeting was to occur, another incident occurred in the Turtle Cove neighborhood. Bonneau explained in an email to Chief Markle that she had seen a male wearing a red, Under Armour hoodie. The man seemed to be upset and was cussing about something. She watched as he walked to a light maroon, Dodge Ram, four-door pickup that was parked in the cul-de-sac. The vehicle’s reverse lights were on, and a woman was inside. The man got in and continued to sit there. Within a minute, a neighbor on Lovebird walked out of her garage and yelled something at them about being in her garage. A girl in the front seat of the truck started yelling and cursing in response. Bonneau then walked toward the truck and took a photo of the plates with her cell phone. The driver backed up a little and said, “We aren’t doing anything.” (Please find below a clarification submitted by a woman who was involved in this incident.)

According to Bonneau, an officer stopped by her house later to let her know that the couple tossed some of their possessions and ran into a home on Flour Bluff Drive. The officer recovered a phone belonging to the female. Bonneau was hopeful that the phone might offer some information that would lead to an arrest or at least to the discovery of other people who might be driving through neighborhoods, entering open garages, and taking valuables from her neighbors.

Chief Markle was unable to attend the January 12 meeting but sent several officers in his place. The officers who were in attendance were unable to appease the Turtle Cove residents and left them wondering what to do next. Bonneau was unhappy that the only advice they were given was to look out for each other, something that the neighbors of Turtle Cove have been doing for some time. The next Flour Bluff Town Hall Meeting will be February 10, 2016, at the Texas A&M Center for Innovation, at 6:30 p.m. Council members McIntyre and Magill have agreed to attend and attempt to answer the questions posed by this very connected neighborhood. Another meeting just for the Turtle Cove residents has been tentatively scheduled February 1, at 6:00 p.m.

Note: Watch for an update in The Paper Trail News relating recent events in this neighborhood.

Clarification: “My garage door had apparently not closed all the way when I’d last come home. I walked into my garage to do something and realized the door was opened. At the same time, the man was approaching the garage and walked in towards me. I believe I startled him, because he quickly said he was going to come ask if he could use my phone. He said something about that he probably shouldn’t have come up ‘like this,’ referring to the bandana he had on his head. I said no to the phone request, and he walked back out. When I came back in the house, I noticed him walking down the street on a phone. Just then, my mom pulled into my driveway. I didn’t want her out there alone with this man so I went out to walk her inside. He was yelling into the phone, attracting the attention of other neighbors. The man got into the back of the truck that had been parked in the cul-de-sac. It was then that Ms. Bonneau approached and started taking pictures of the truck. I did not come out yelling at the girl in the truck. She rolled down the window and began yelling at me for ‘mean-mugging’ her because I was standing in front of my house looking at the truck. She yelled obscenities at me as they drove away as well. “

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

In light of a recent rash of criminal activity in the Turtle Cove subdivision in Flour Bluff, it is understandable that some residents have been more than just a bit unsettled. In the last week alone, the police raided a home on Waxwing that neighbors have suspected for some time was a haven for illicit drug use, answered a call where a 28-year-old woman reported her door kicked in and her home on Oriole burglarized, and responded to a shooting at 3:00 a.m. on the 900 block of Oriole where they met several people outside their homes after a car was damaged from gunfire. Are the neighbors ready to give up and move out? Residents who were interviewed love their neighborhood and have no intention of leaving. They do, however, have a plan of action for returning their neighborhood to the quiet, safe area it was not so long ago, starting with a select group of residents meeting with District 4 Council member, Colleen McIntyre, and representatives from various departments of law enforcement.

“It’s something that needs to happen since the last town hall meeting really didn’t give us any answers,” said Wes Womack, a long-time resident who patrols his neighborhood four times throughout the day and even at night. “From midnight to 4:00 a.m., there are lots of people on bicycles carrying backpacks through the neighborhood. I’m just asking for more police to patrol our neighborhood and see what these people are up to – to be a deterrent.”

Womack said that after the town hall meeting, he did see more of a police presence for a few days, but then there was nothing. “I don’t want promises,” Womack said. “I want solutions.”

Womack said that he is trying to be proactive and even convinced his neighbors to install and turn on security lights a few months ago. He said that many residents are gun owners and are headed to a local shooting range to receive training in handling, cleaning, and shooting a gun. “Safety is the most important factor,” Womack said. “They need to be proficient with a weapon if they are going to use it for protection. You can read a book on being an astronaut, but it won’t help you fly a rocket. You have to practice.”

The young woman whose home was burglarized said, “I’m not afraid to live here. I have always lived in Flour Bluff, and I love it here.” She, like Womack, has no intention of allowing a “few bad apples” in the neighborhood to steal her possessions or her peace of mind. She said that she understands that the limited number of police officers in the BRAVO district make response times slower for non-violent offenses, such as the break-in at her house. “Luckily, I have people – neighbors and family members – who come to my aide.”

“Neighbors helping neighbors, we definitely have that happening here. I’ve not been the victim of any of the situations out here, but I do try my best to help my neighbors with information, and I do look out for those around me. We are networking together to share info and are exploring our options,” said Diane Bonneau, a Turtle Cove resident who has been a leader in getting the residents to communicate with each other through social media sites such as NextDoor and Facebook.

All residents who were interviewed, expressed a desire to work alongside law enforcement and other social service departments to make a positive impact on their neighborhood. Bonneau said, “I’ve lived in the Bluff for about 25 years, all of it on Oso Bay, starting in the Wharf Apartments as I finished college. I would sit on my patio and look out at the strip of houses that backed up to the bay and said, ‘I will live in one of those houses!’ I live on Oriole Street in Turtle Cove in one of those houses now. I love the Bluff. Love my amazing view on the Oso and my incredible neighbors who have become my extended family. I don’t believe I will ever live anywhere else.”

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

The Flour Bluff Business Association, a task force of business leaders who promote the safety, service, and growth of the Flour Bluff community, welcomed Councilman Chad Magill as its keynote speaker at the January 6, 2016, meeting held at noon at Funtrackers in Flour Bluff. Magill focused on the new year and talked about “big ticket items” for the city.

“The EPA expects us to agree to pay $853 million on your wastewater system over the next 12 to 15 years. We can’t afford it.” Magill admitted that the system absolutely needs improvements and that the City has been discussing the issue since 2009. Magill said that part of the reason for his failure to support Destination Bayfront stemmed from the knowledge of the pending wastewater bill.

“Anytime we spend 72 million of tax dollars on anything but what we have to spend it on, you have to ask if we can afford it,” Magill said.

Magill told the audience he believed the City should be focused on reconstruction and maintenance of streets, public safety, wastewater, and water supply. He emphasized the importance of getting the fundamentals right and putting needs before wants. This led Magill to address PlanCC 2035 (now 2036). Magill said, “Your city government shouldn’t have to be the ones to create the social environment for success. We shouldn’t be the ones to pay for free swimming lessons or for free internet service across the city. We see a lot of those proposed policies in PlanCC 2035. I have some serious doubts whether that plan moves forward.” Magill added that he put a plan together based on the existing comprehensive plan and sent it to City staff in December 2015. “It takes the good from our existing plan – which actually includes public safety – and includes parts from the proposed PlanCC 2035 to create a real-world plan that keeps us focused on our needs.”

Magill talked about the new harbor bridge and what an amazing feat it was to bring together the Port of Corpus Christi, the City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TxDot, and a number of local organizations and finally settle upon the building of a billion-dollar bridge. He praised the efforts of Representative Todd Hunter who was “a champion for the bridge.” Magill said that the new bridge should be looked at as an essential part of economic development for the area and that construction should begin as soon as 2017.

The councilman then shifted to the topic of zero-based budgeting. “You’re going to see – for our generation – the largest push for a zero-based budget in our city government ever. It’s a challenge to City staff, but City Manager Ron Olson accepted the challenge.” Magill said that some of his colleagues on council believe he may have challenged staff too much. “They have concerns. I understand that, but at the same time, these are your tax dollars.”

Magill explained that zero-based budgeting will require City departments to justify spending tax dollars by aligning the spending with the mission. “Everyone has to budget where their dollars go. You do it. My wife and I do it. Shouldn’t we expect that of our City government?” He sees it as an opportunity for the department heads to shine. “If they embrace it and do well,” Magill said he would fight for their funding and for them to be successful.

Magill then turned to the topic of Flour Bluff and spoke about his desire to get Laguna Shores Road on the 2018 bond. “Every time I’m in Flour Bluff, I drive down Laguna Shores to remind me of the need.” He went on to commend James Skrobarczyk, who was in the audience, for serving on the residential street committee and praised the ad hoc committee for accomplishing so much in a short period of time.

He explained that they had uncovered some wasteful practices and inefficiencies in the Street Preventative and Maintenance Plan (SPMP). He offered an example. “Kingsville spends about $2.50 per square foot on overlays while Corpus Christi spends $8.00 per square foot for the same work.” When asked how that could be, Magill said, “Part of it is inefficiencies of government; part of that is multiple inspection layers; part of that is – frankly – writing contracts that allow contractors to make ‘obscene amounts of profit.’ ” He told the FBBA that he would love to speak to them again in June or July to fill them in on the recommendations from the street committee and how the City will move toward zero-based budgeting.

When asked if Council member Colleen McIntyre’s proposal last year to raise property taxes by 8 cents to pay for residential street construction is the only form of funding available, Magill said, “The Caller-Times reported that 8 cents of ad valorem property taxes per year would raise $20 million, when in actuality, it would raise $13.6 million.” After texting Ron Olson that his numbers were wrong, Olson came back a couple of days later and agreed Magill was correct in his calculations.

“When they’re talking about throwing more taxpayer money at an inefficient system, how much of that money is going to be wasted? I took an unpopular stance on council, and I said, ‘No, I can’t support a property tax increase without a plan.’ “

Magill said that oftentimes a government entity will ask for a lot of money first then develop a plan around it second. “Then they do the work and go on the defense and tell you how good it was. We’ve got to change that process and ask everyone to be open to a change in that kind of thinking. The missing component is being able to put a plan together, share that with the community – which we’ll do in June or July – and ask how much of this plan would you like to invest in?”

“Multiple funding sources is the key. From re-purposing sales tax, we can pay the debt service off on Whataburger Field, and that gives you between $2 and $2.5 million a year. That’s sales tax, which is mostly a tax that is appropriate for infrastructure. In good times, you do more; in bad times, you do less. Then, you look at cutting from within the budget. We tried a 1% cut last year; that didn’t work. We held the line on increasing materials and operations costs, but effectively we didn’t save much money. That’s why we’re going the zero-based route.”

Magill explained that savings within the budget will go to two things: One is streets and the other is City employee raises. “Think about the people who are going to do the work to find those inefficiencies within their own department budgets. If we’re going to challenge them harder, we have to somehow align goals. If you tell a department head that he/she needs to save money in the department and that part of the money saved will go into giving that department a raise, then people’s goals are starting to align. Efficiency is part of good, quality government.”

“Another funding source is potentially the RTA. They could be a funding partner, and I think they’re open to that now. The key here is to go to multiple funding sources with property taxes being the last in line. If we had raised property taxes last year at 8 cents, your only guarantee is that your property taxes will go up. If we had passed Destination Bayfront, that would have also added to the cost for the taxpayer. If we’re going to focus on needs, let’s do it the right way. The residential street committee is culling the bad from the current program and keeping the good to find out the most efficient way to tackle residential streets.”

Precinct 4 County Commissioner Brent Chesney and ad hoc street committee chairman Andy Taubman have the same thought as Magill about the RTA redirecting more funds to the streets. New RTA chairman, Curtis Rock, has not officially weighed in on this possibility.

Magill answered questions from the audience on the topics of the failed Citizens’ Collection Center (Solid Waste Transfer Station). He cited the main reasons for the failure as:

the $4.65 million price tag, which would have come in the form of a 20-year debt,

a raise in solid waste rates, and

a petition against the facility with 700 signatures from residents who live near the proposed site on Flour Bluff Drive.

He also discussed the positive aspects of privatization of City services and used the municipal golf courses as an example of how privatization has improved the quality of the golf courses while saving the City money.

FBBA member, Michael Morgan, encouraged fellow members to stay in contact with Chad Magill. “He is very accessible and very approachable. He’ll tell you the facts, and he won’t rose-color anything. If you have concerns or want to learn something, of course we have our District 4 representative, but Chad also represents us as an at-large council member. I just want to thank him publicly for the job he’s doing for us out here.”

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

It appears that Andy Taubman and the other members of the ad hoc street committee are making a difference in changing the status quo down at the street department. At Tuesday’s council meeting, Valerie Gray, the city’s executive director of public works for the past year, presented a plan that sounds almost identical to what Taubman and his “A Team” have deemed necessary in order to get the runaway street problem under control.

Andy Taubman, Ad Hoc Street Committee Chairman

Currently the Street Preventative Maintenance Program has completed less than half of the projects that were slated for completion by 2016. From the data collected by the street committee, it appears that the department created its own roadblocks by creating an environment of “We will continue to do today what we did yesterday” even when it wasn’t working well.

This outdated way of building and maintaining streets worked extremely well for a handful of big contractors, especially one who claims to have made over a billion dollars off city street jobs. This comment was made when contractors were invited to attend the third meeting of the committee to address what is working and what is not working in the current SPMP program.

One of the committee members, Alan Guggenheim, who has lived up to his description on Linked In as “highly experienced in reorganizing, streamlining, and strengthening business to maximize delivery performance, customer satisfaction, profitability, and shareholder value across operations,” asked a simple question of one contractor. “What are your criteria for measuring success?” It was a reasonable question, a good question, a question asked by private business owners all the time, but one that amazingly hasn’t been asked of the contractors until now.

Alan Guggenheim, Committee Member (LinkedIn Photo)

The contractor’s answer? “Make an obscene profit.” Well, that’s great for the businessman, and certainly that’s how capitalism works. But, what does that say about the way the City has been spending our hard-earned tax dollars? Maybe now there will be some accountability within the system. It’s amazing how new eyes on an old problem can lead to solutions.

In today’s Caller-Times article, Mayor Nelda Martinez is quoted as saying, “There’s no question of the unprecedented construction work underway on our streets. This is the most bullish we’ve ever been on streets, and I know we’re going to get better — there’s always room for improvement — but I can’t tell you how proud I am.” Perhaps the Mayor and the other three council members who were adamantly against the formation of the committee in the beginning are starting to see the good that has come from this group of concerned and knowledgeable citizens . Surely they have made the connection between what has come out of the committee and this sudden change in the “business as usual” attitude of City staff.

Councilman Chad Magill, who initiated the creation of the committee, is at every meeting and is often seen seated next to Carolyn Vaughn, a savvy business owner and council member who supported the creation of the committee and nominated Alan Guggenheim to serve on it. The five who were in favor of the committee from the start (Magill, Vaughn, Rubio, Garza, and Rosas) should be proud of their efforts in taking the first step to fixing a broken program. Magill told the Caller-Times, “I’m more confident in our seal coat process than I ever have been.” He went on to say that he anticipated even more improvements to come from the recommendations of the street committee.

Next week Council will hear the full plan that includes the City being more small-contractor friendly so that work on the projects can be sped up to meet the December 2016 deadline. Using more than one contractor for these projects has been a discussion item at many of the street committee meetings. This kind of collaboration among City staff, the committee of concerned citizens, and the Council gives us hope that our streets will improve and that our tax dollars will be spent wisely. In the words of John Hannibal of the television series The A Team, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

John Hannibal (Isotech.com Photo)

Clarificaton: Council member Colleen McIntyre pointed out to the editor that the final vote for the ad hoc street committee was a unanimous one (9-0).

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

“Problems are hard to see when buried in a culture of this is how we’ve always done it,” says Andy Taubman, CC Ad Hoc Residential Street Committee chairman. He could not stress enough how the City staff are good, decent, competent people who have been more than willing to assist the street committee. “I believe they are trying to do the right thing. I’ve had interactions with plenty of government people over the years, and it’s very rare when I can make a blanket statement saying that I really think most of the people are doing it for the right reasons and doing a decent job.”

Taubman went on to say, however, that the current culture doesn’t foster accountability, importance of shared communications, or respect for innovation. The system absolutely fosters “We’re going to do tomorrow what we did yesterday, and we’re absolutely not going to look at what we did yesterday because we may not like what we find.”

Taubman says that this is just typical of human beings in general, so he can’t blame individual people. “There’s a cultural problem that we have to decide as a community if we’re okay with that or not.”

When asked if the SPMP (Street Preventative Maintenance Program) is well-run or efficient, he took a deep breath and said he thought the SPMP is an extraordinarily good idea because it requires that we take care of the streets that are in acceptable condition since the cost of reconstructing a street is enormous. However, the program is short on funds by $5 to $10 million dollars per year, and if the City wants to take care of what it has, then they need to find that amount to do it. “Should we scrounge to do that? It wouldn’t be a bad place to spend money,” Taubman said.

The residential street committee is staying out of the funding discussion at this stage of their work because “it has a way of sucking the oxygen out of the room,” he said. Taubman points out that there really is only one source of funding. The dollars used for any city service, whether in the form of a property tax, a fee, or an excise tax, come only from “the pockets of the citizens.” He went on to say that it appears that other avenues of funding have not been explored because it just is not the way the status quo thinks about the problem of funding.

“At the margin, there are some sources out there that ought to have a bigger role in the paying for things. The RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) has a role to play here.” (RTA current contributions to streets)

Kirsten Crow of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported in April of 2015: “The agency draws funds through a 1/2-cent sales tax, which generally supports its day-to-day operations. The RTA’s sales tax allocation dropped about 8.2 percent from 2008 to 2009, but overall increased from 2004-13, from $17.7 million to $32.9 million annually, according to the comptroller.”

Pot hole / small area restoration focus as strategic part of the comprehensive street plan

Additional important street considerations for a new residential street program

What City staff and committee need to do next

Standard costs for reconstruction, overlays, seal coats, and small area restoration

There has been no move by the City staff to ask, “Can we ramp up since we’re not going to meet our deadlines?” Even though the program is months behind schedule, “that question never gets asked,” said Taubman. “A good private business asks this question all the time and would say ‘I’m hiring this contractor, this contractor, and this contractor, and we’re going to surge here and get it done because my year-one program has to be done by the end of year one.’ That doesn’t happen.”

“If you don’t ask the question, you can’t address the problem. Because of the way the system was constructed, when you get to that point, you couldn’t address it even if you wanted to address it because you have one IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity) provider for that particular service. It wasn’t like there was even the possibility of doing that. In a new program, these are all shakedown issues. It didn’t get addressed year two. Now, we’re in year three. It hasn’t been sorted out yet.”

The committee meets through May. Then, they will make recommendations to the City Council based on their findings. “Even if we come up with good ideas, is there the possibility of implementation? I don’t know. It sure seem like it’s hard. I don’t know where the impetus is going to come from inside the system to say ‘Wow! Now that my eyes are opened, we’re going to do it differently.’ I just don’t know where that’s going to come from.”

(This is the third in a series of articles about the work of the residential street committee.)

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

On October 27, 2015, nine dedicated citizens set sail on the CC Ad Hoc Residential Street Committee, on a seven-month voyage through oceans of engineering, accountability, and information sharing documents as they celebrate the successes of the current program, identify areas in need of improvement, and develop a plan of action for moving forward. This is the first of a series of articles that serves to log their progress and offer information and insights into the picture that is so much bigger than the pothole at the end of the street.

Chris Duff, 43, is a Realtor who views the streets through the eyes of prospective residents;

Toby Futrell, 61, is a retired city manager from Austin who hopes to offer a different perspective on an old problem;

Alan Guggenheim, 65, is a civil engineer and conservative thinker with an analytical mind who seeks to develop an improved plan that is cost-effective;

Javier Huerta, 44, is an architect and former Planning Commission chairman who wants a cost-effective plan that achieves good results and more accountability while creating more competition among contractors;

Kyle Pape, 41, is an engineering consultant who offers his project management skills to help find the lowest-cost solutions to the problem of residential streets;

Darrell Scanlan, 50, is a chemical engineer and lifetime resident who wants to make his hometown better by offering his expertise in the areas of business and construction;

James Skrobarczyk, 65, is a real estate broker who specializes in real estate development, construction, and sales in the Corpus Christi, Texas area, and whose love for the area motivates him to help find an answer to the street problems;

Richard Stracener, 59, is a heavy machinery salesman who has called Corpus Christi home for over 50 years wants to find ways to save money while increasing the longevity of the streets;

Andy Taubman, 48, a real estate investor and manager serves as the chairman of the committee and hopes to create public trust in the city government by implementing his Infrastructure Committee Plan which outlines the role of the committee and was approved by City Council on October 20, 2015.

The committee is subject to the Open Meetings Act and meets at City Hall on the first Monday and third Wednesday of every month at 4:00 p.m. As of this writing, the committee has had five meetings, the first two being organizational in nature. Andy Taubman was elected chairman and Javier Juerta, vice-chairman. The committee discussed its purpose and expectations, established subcommittees, and proposed dates for presentations from each subcommittee. An online message board was set up to keep the public informed, and an ccStreetCommittee@gmail.com account was created to accept public feedback. Valerie Gray, Executive Director of Public Works, gave a presentation on Street Operations and the Street Improvement Plan Strategies. Additional information was provided by Andy Leal, Interim Director of Street Operations, and Jeffrey Edmonds, Director of Engineering Services.

(This is the first of several articles covering the work of the residential street committee.)

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

Voltaire said we should “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” Asking the right questions is what Andy Taubman, Ad Hoc Residential Street Infrastructure Advisory Committee chairman, sees as the main role of the group of nine citizens charged with addressing the problem of failed residential streets in Corpus Christi. Taubman made it clear an hour and 50 minutes into the October 20 City Council Meeting that the questions he and the other committee members have about engineering, accountability, contracting methods, and information sharing are designed to assist City staff in evaluating the existing program to identify successes and areas in need of improvement, not assign blame.

At this meeting, Taubman’s Infrastructure Committee Plan came under fire from Mayor Martinez and Council members McIntyre, Scott, and Riojas, who were opposed to the plan and ultimately voted against it.

Council member Lucy Rubio spoke in favor of the plan: “What are we afraid of? We have a group of people who want to help us get this right.” Rubio voted for the plan, as did Council members Vaughn, Garza, Magill, and Rosas.

At the October 27 City Council Meeting, Taubman was nominated by Councilman Magill who said: “He’s got the mind and the will to actually produce something that is tangible and actionable.”

In a November 1, 2015, Caller-Times editorial, Taubman proved Magill’s assessment when he wrote: “Understanding the current situation is a necessary precursor for improving it.” By posing the right questions, Taubman believes the committee can facilitate change in the existing system, and perhaps even in the existing culture. “We started the process by looking at an existing program because you get two benefits by doing that. We get to ask: What happened in the existing program? Do we think it is efficient? Well-run? Did the money get spent right? Are we happy with it going forward in its same incarnation?”

These questions prompted the committee to invite contractors, consultants, and outside engineers who help the City with street work to the meeting on December 1, 2015. “We think that any problems and any solutions that exist are probably going to come from the people who are doing that work every day. That’s why we are seeking out feedback – because the goal is not necessarily to be judged on making mistakes. However, we will be judged on repeating or not repeating the mistakes. We are looking at the Street Preventative Maintenance Program (SPMP) as a model for what will ultimately become the Street Reconstruction Program.”

At the December 16 Ad Hoc Residential Street Committee meeting, Taubman shared “A Private Business Person’s Perspective on a Governmental Process,” a 19-page report co-authored by fellow committee member, Chris Duff. The committee concluded that the SPMP can be labeled a success because “money got spent” and “roads got fixed.” Below is a list of some of the information included in the report:

An overview of the SPMP Program including current funding sources;

A program underfunded by $5 to $10 million per year in comparison to the natural aging of the streets;

The high price tag attached to ADA requirements;

The cost of seal-coats and overlays;

Possible funding sources, including RTA funds;

Observation that seal coat is one year behind while overlay were 23% complete at fiscal year end;

A method for bidding and awarding contracts that may not lead to the best value and is not small-contractor friendly;

A terminology used by City staff to relate information to the citizens that is confusing and rarely allows for real transparency;

A lack of feedback to evaluate efficiency in the City system;

A need for the use of technology to determine the condition of a street;

Staff responses to the committee’s observations and recommendations.

Did the committee learn anything beyond that? In an interview from December 31, 2015, Taubman offered his thoughts on how current street maintenance practices affect the whole program:

“The seal coat program is one year behind schedule. In two years they’re one year behind. That’s not a little miss; that’s a big miss. The reason the seal coat exists is to preserve the streets. Being behind isn’t just an inconvenience, it has a real cost. Cities don’t do a very good job of measuring opportunity costs. Everyone complains about the $100 being spent in a place somebody doesn’t like. If by not getting the seal coat work done you’ve lost a million dollars in value of the streets, nobody says anything because you can’t measure opportunity costs. If projects are managed well, there are three variables that really get managed: time, quality, and cost. Those are the three variables that get managed in a private situation. The goal is to balance the three. In a city setting time goes out the window. This discussion doesn’t happen because the three types of years (program year, fiscal year, calendar year) don’t match up. So, no one asks the question. Nobody really knows.”

When asked if City staff has the ability to adjust that, Taubman responded: “Excellent question. No one asks if the city can ramp things up to meet a deadline. The money is already allocated through our fees, so it isn’t a question of funding. The way they contract for these services is that they wind up in an IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity) with only one provider for each service. In private business, the owner will hire extra contractors and get the work done. If the question is never asked of City staff, then it can’t be addressed. And, since there’s only one provider, the question can’t be asked at all.”

Taubman believes another question must be asked: “How and why does the money get spent?”

“If people are concerned about how the money gets spent and why the money gets spent, then it’s important to have a street committee. I’m not convinced people care how or why the money gets spent. I think that businesses that are very well run ask this all the time,” said Taubman. “I’m not saying anything bad about City staff, but they don’t care if the question gets asked or not. The City council members feel they need to ask the question out of a sense of duty or obligation, but do they really care if the question gets asked or not? Some do. Some don’t. Do the voters really care whether the question gets asked or not? I don’t get an overwhelming sense that that’s an important part of what people think about. The paper definitely doesn’t care about the question. When you think about the role of media in society where they’re supposed to be asking the question, that’s where I say the biggest deficit in dereliction of duty happens. Do I really think anybody cares? No. So why are we doing this? I don’t really know.”

When asked why he is driven to lead the committee and continue to ask the question, Taubman said, “Part of why I’m doing this is because that’s not the way governments operate, but it is the way people operate. In my experience personally and professionally, I think it’s an important thing to do. Should we as citizens come together and ask that of government? I would otherwise in a vacuum say yes. I just don’t see any evidence that’s the way the world really works, so I don’t know. People in their own lives and businesses do it, so come hell or high water we’re going to do this on behalf of the citizens in the context of good government.”

Like the little boy in Han Chrisian Andersen’s “The Emperer’s New Clothes,” Taubman’s questions are opening doors, eyes, and minds to the possible need for change in the status quo. “Is there a need or willingness for change within the current system?” Taubman asks. Time will tell. For now, the committee members continue to take the road less traveled by the average citizen in their quest to “get it right.”

(This is the second of several articles covering the work of the residential street committee.)

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

The Paper Trail says, “Sometimes it takes more than one newspaper to get the whole story.”

Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man: “It was summer and moonlight and we had lemonade to drink, and we held the cold glasses in our hands, and Dad read the stereo-newspapers inserted into the special hat you put on your head and which turned the microscopic page in front of the magnifying lens if you blinked three times in succession.”

The Paper Trail says, “Newspapers are not extinct; they’re just taking on a new look.”

Our articles cover a great many topics appropriate for anyone living anywhere. However, we will also serve as an additional news source for Corpus Christi and Flour Bluff. If you have an idea for a local story, please contact us. So, read on and subscribe to our future editions!

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

Flour Bluff residents, Dan Hogan and James Skrobarczyk, organized the Flour Bluff Town Hall Meeting held on January 12, 2016, at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Innovation Center located at the corner of First National Drive and South Padre Island Drive. A group of about 125 people showed up to hear from several community leaders.

Justice of the Peace Thelma Rodriguez started the meeting by fielding questions about the duties of her office and how she works with school officials to do what is best for the students.

State Representative Todd Hunter followed her with a presentation on the local implications of state legislation for windstorm insurance. Hunter said that James Skrobarczyk accompanied him to Austin and stood with him as they battled the Department of Insurance. “After 12 years, we got the bill passed. Finally, Nueces County is going to be treated like human beings,” Hunter said. He told the audience that insurance companies are already creating policies as they begin to compete for business in the coastal areas. “They’re high, but they’re coming down. You are going to see a rate reduction, but there will be a 12- to 14-month transition period.”

Rep. Todd Hunter

Hunter also addressed the possibility of cruise lines in Corpus Christi. He said that the problem is that Brownsville wants it, too. “We’re going to bring travel tourism here. We’re going to set up a local group – a resource group from my area – to back us up when we start having these State hearings,” Hunter added. He encouraged interested parties to contact his office if they want to be part of that group.

Hunter ended his part of the meeting with information on the expansion of Hwy 361 and the safety issues related to the roadway leading from Port Aransas to Flour Bluff.

Sheriff Jim Kaelin, who has served 9 years as sheriff, said that nothing is as important to this community as a safe, sanitary, secure jail. “People need to understand that inmates in the jail have been accused of crimes. Any one of us could wind up there. Penitentiary inmates have been convicted of crimes.” Currently, 900 of the 1068 beds are filled. Kaelin said that increasing capacity has been slow, but the bed count has grown by 50 since he took over. He is currently working on adding 144 beds by opening two areas in the annex. The construction plans have been approved and that renovation could get the county through the next 10 or 15 years without added expense to the taxpayers.

Sheriff Jim Kaelin

An audience member asked the sheriff to talk about the inmate commissary. “Our ratio of officers to inmates is 1:48.” Kaelin said that in order to get chronically non-compliant inmates to follow rules, certain privileges are offered: use of pay phones, weekend visitation by family members, television in the day room, co-mingling with other inmates, and commissary privileges. The inmates use their own money to purchase items at the “jail store.” The 42 cents made from each dollar goes into an inmate benefit fund that pays for shoes, uniforms, mattresses, bedding, and cleaning supplies. $400-$500 thousand per year goes into the account. Currently the balance is around $800,000. “This saves the taxpayer from footing the bill for these items,” Kaelin said.

Kaelin finished with offering advice to the attendees on using cell phones to take pictures of suspicious cars, people, and activities to help monitor what is happening in their neighborhoods. Skrobarczyk added that the Next Door website is another way to connect with neighbors and look our for each other.

Cdr. Todd Green

Cdr. Todd Green with CCPD, addressed concerns raised by audience members on several topics, including stray dogs, ways to protect their own property, knowing their neighbors, and calling the police. Green responded to questions and concerns about ongoing problems in the Turtle Cove neighborhood. He encouraged all to call the police every time something occurred, which one man said they had already been doing. Another officer suggested that citizens take advantage of the CCPD social media websites and form Neighborhood Watch groups.

Captain David McCarty

Captain David McCarty introduced himself and said that he took over the Bravo District on January 11, 2016, and wanted everyone to be able to put a face with a name. He said he looked forward to working with and getting to know the residents of Flour Bluff.

Andy Taubman, Chairman for the Ad Hoc Residential Street Committee for Corpus Christi, addressed the group on what the committee is finding as they research the SPMP (Street Preventative Maintenance Program) and the standard practices. “The phase the City is in right now is truly reactive. There’s not a lot of planning, record keeping, or accountability in the system. The committee is trying to get the City to emerge from this reactive behavior to a proactive behavior,” said Taubman. They are trying to convince the City to repair the streets in a neighborhood rather than addressing pot holes only as they are reported by residents.

Andy Taubman

Other problems include master plans that have not been digitized and have missing elements, such as a missing sewer in the plans for Flour Bluff Drive. One man spoke of his street that has 47 houses and not a single fire hydrant, which is a problem with the master plan according to Taubman. To report problems, Taubman suggested that residents use the City website so that a work order can be made. Questions were raised about various streets, including Caribbean and Purdue. James Skrobarczyk, who also serves on the committee, said, “There’s a lot issues where Flour Bluff has just been left behind.”

Greg Smith, longtime resident of Flour Bluff and member of ISAC (Island Strategic Action Committee), said, “Several communities are putting together an Area Development Plan, which falls under the Comprehensive Development Plan. It would be a good idea if Flour Bluff got a group together and met and NOT be left behind. That would allow the people of Flour Bluff to come up with their own plan instead of the people from Massachusetts coming up with a plan.”

The final minutes of the meeting included Melanie Hambrick, President of the Flour Bluff Business Association, who spoke about the Homeless Commission and the concerns surrounding the new ordinance to ban panhandling downtown. She said the concern of many residents and businesses is that enforcement of the new regulation could actually bring more homeless to Flour Bluff.

A representative from Brent Chesney’s office (Precinct 4 County Commissioner) was open for questions from the audience. After several comments about people fishing from Mud Bridge on Yorktown in Flour Bluff, she offered to talk to them after the meeting. She also volunteered to help create the Flour Bluff area development committee through Chesney’s office.

Since many questions were left unanswered, Dan Hogan suggested later in the meeting that another gathering be held in February just to address concerns of crime with Chief Markle and to cover other city issues with the Council members Magill and McIntyre who were unable to attend.

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.

The following is an article by Owen B., a second-grade student at Flour Bluff Primary:

Has anyone ever told you that everything would be better if God was allowed in school? I think that’s a funny thing to say since the Holy Spirit lives in my heart, and I go to school every day, which means God is always in school with me. God is everywhere, so I’m pretty sure that He didn’t forget to go to school. All I have to do is pray in my head to talk to Him. I know that He’s there because He tells us we can trust Him. Maybe more people need to believe in God so that everyone would understand that He is with them everywhere they go, even school.

Retired from education after serving 30 years (twenty-eight as an English teacher and two years as a new-teacher mentor), Shirley enjoys her life with family and friends while serving her community, church, and school in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the creator and managing editor of The Paper Trail, an online news/blog site that serves to offer new, in-depth, and insightful responses to the events of the day. She also writes and edits for The Texas Shoreline News, a Corpus Christi print newspaper.